The sophisticated food lovers of Chowhound.com (one of the internet’s most popular food-related destinations) have spoken – and they’ve voted Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant NUMBER ONE in Los Angeles for 2009! Langer’s would like to thank each person who voted for us – we greatly appreciate your support and dedication.

Langer’s narrowly beat out “world-class seafood emporium” Providence on Melrose to win the $25 and under category:

This year, by the barest of margins, pastrami trumped lobster and MacArthur Park trumped Melrose.

For the eighth year, Los Angeles Chowhounders have expressed their opinions about what constitutes “the ultimate Los Angeles restaurant”, following the dictum established by the poll’s founder, Mr. Grub: “The concept is simple: everyone is asked to list, in rank order, your five top restaurants in Los Angeles County that you would recommend to houndly out-of-town visitors or to Chowfriends for a special occasion. Since we worship at the altar of deliciousness, your ranking should be based 75% on food and 25% on everything else.”

For the last three years, the world-class seafood emporium Providence has owned the top spot in the Los Angeles Ultimate Chowhound. Last year, for the first time I ran two polls, one for restaurants in the category of over $25 per person for food, and the other in the category of $25 or less for food. Langer’s, home to what even the most chauvinist New York deli partisans will concede is the best pastrami sandwich in the U.S., received no votes in the 2007 poll. Last year, it rocketed to second place. This year, Langer’s has beat Providence by two points.